Originally posted by Scott
An American thing ? 
So F1 in EUROPE and the countless racing series across the world do not use "hard evidence" ? It would be easier to say drifting is the only motorsport I can think of that does not use "hard evidence". Heck tractor pulling uses "hard evidence" to record times.
Drifting is not so popular for the reasons I listed plus it has no corporate backing.
As far as the new discussion regrading tearing up a car I have read numerous people bitching about how their cars now creak and are not as tight after a fair amount of drifting.
All of the math replies are hilarious and I do not see the relevance to the discussion.
Like Charles said, you need to get your facts straight. Drifting has and will have more corporate backing. Not that I really care about that. Just like I care not even to compare it to other motorsports. It is decently equal, but I guess you are just not into it. No big deal.
Auto-x, road race, and drag will do the same to your car (creaking, etc) and worse. Seriously... don't build a car for motorsport if you're afraid of hurting it in some way.